A review by sidharthvardhan
The Wings of the Dove by Henry James

3.0

I like the themes Henry James chooses for his books, his portrayal of them not so much. Lots of readers advise writers to 'show but not tell' but best of literature to me is about that which can not be seen. And after all, we have arts enough (painting, theatre etc) which capture life better in so far as it can be seen. Ishiguro said something similar in his Noble speech so now I have his authority to state my preferences. James' books are just full of scenes that show what could be more briefly told and this takes away from intensity of ceneral subject for me. Moreover his prose has very little of that energy in prose which makes Wharton click for me in similar books.